The prevalence of transsexualism in Singapore was estimated by counting all the patients who sought sex-reassignment surgery and were subsequently diagnosed as transsexuals by psychiatrists. Up to 1986, there were a total of 458 Singapore-born transsexuals, of which 343 were males and 115 were females. This was a prevalence of 35.2 per 100,000 population age 15 and above (or 1/2900) for male transsexualism, and 12.0 per 100,000 (or 1/8300) for female transsexualism. The sex ratio was about 3 males to 1 female. The main reason for the high prevalence was the availability of sex-reassignment surgery.

Most patients with schizophrenia had a good/fair outcome at 20 years.

Two hundred male and 100 female transsexuals compared with 100 male and 80 female heterosexuals were studied in Singapore. Transsexuals started their psychosexual development earlier than controls. Transsexual feelings started in childhood. Male transsexuals went through a homosexual phase followed by a transvestite phase, before they became transsexual. Female transsexuals did not go through distinct phases. Cross-dressing was one of the early signs of transsexualism and started earlier in females. None of the transsexuals were married, in contrast to reports showing that up to 50% of Caucasian transsexuals had been married. Cultural differences may explain the contrasts between Singapore transsexuals and patients from Western countries.

In Singapore, an island city state in the tropics, climatic variables like sunlight, windspeed, temperature, rainfall and humidity are significantly correlated with subgroups of suicidal subjects such as Malays, young adults and youths. In the young age group (0-19 years) the relationship between meteorological factors and suicide appear to be greater than in the other two groups.

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